Sugar, Infections, and the Whole Child with Dr. Christine Saba
I always say it takes a village, and this conversation is a good example of what that village sounds like. I sat down with my dear friend and colleague Dr. Christine Saba at MAPS, and we ranged across a lot of ground, starting with the talk she gave on refined sugar as a genuine burden on children's health. Chris is a pharmacist and a pediatrician, so she sees the biology and the whole child at the same time, and she is wonderful at making the science practical, from choosing whole foods over refined ones to something as simple as slowing down and eating together instead of on the run.
From there we went where this show always goes, to the children in front of us. Chris shared how she first came to understand that infections can sit underneath neuropsychiatric symptoms, and how her work with ILADS and MAPS has deepened her understanding of vector-borne illness and co-infections in kids. The theme we kept returning to is that it is never one single thing—it is the whole child and the whole system, and our job is to be detectives who look at all of it. If you are a parent in the thick of this, please hear the part that matters most: it is treatable, you are not alone, and we do not give up hope. We keep knocking until the right door opens.
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About the Guest:
Dr. Christine Saba, PharmD, MD, is both a pharmacist and a pediatrician, a combination that shapes how she thinks about children's health from the inside out. She serves on the boards of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), where she has worked to bring a pediatric lens to vector-borne illness, and she is a clinician within the MAPS community. Through her practice, Saba Integrative Medicine, she cares for complex children by looking at the whole picture: diet, environment, infection, and immune function, rather than any single trigger.
Learn more about Dr. Christine Saba and her practice at sabaintegrativemedicine.com
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Nancy O’Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP, FMAPS
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